Gaea's Locket Ch. 10

~World Cuisines~

“Yuya-nii!! Hurry up!” Yui shouted at him. He carried the platter of food as she said, “The party starts in an hour! And we still need to set up the rest of the desserts!”

“Alright, alright.” he said. “Relax. I can't handle setting up the food. Just make sure nothing burns.” She sighed, “What about the decorations and music?” He answered, “Chinen said he has someone working on the decoration and Hikaru is setting the sound system and will be playing music throughout the party. It's fine, alright? No need to get all worked up.”

“Alright.” she began calming down. “No need to worry...”

“Yui. How's those pies coming?” she heard as her boss walking in. She turned to the over, “The last batch will be done in 10 minutes.” He smiled, “Great. Guest will be arriving soon. So as soon as that's done, please join the party. You've done great.”

“Thanks, sir!” she smiled.

“Look forward to a raise in your paycheck!” he stated as she cheered, “Wohoo~! You're the best, Chinen!”

“Yuri's fine.” he said.

“That's Yuri.” she answered. “I'll finish up here.” He nodded and left as she waited for the pies to finish.

~Keito and Daiki's home office~

“Should we really be going to a party?” Keito wondered as Yuki handed him an invite. Daiki nodded, “Why not? It'll be fun!” He shrugged, “Well, we should be looking into this more. We still have 3 other gods to find--”

“Oh, come on. Have some fun!” Yuki pleaded. “You work way too much. You guys need a break and this party is it! Besides, my friend, Kaori will be there.” Keito gave her a look, “Okay?” Yuki rolled her eyes, “Kaori is Kei's best friend, those two are always together so he'll probably be at the party too.”

“Then we just need to get him to meet the others. So they need to come to the party too.” Daiki stated as Yuki nodded. But Keito responded, “But its invitations only. How are we gonna get them in?”

“Well Kaori gave me one more ticket for Yuto.” she said holding up the last ticket. “So we just need to get the other three in.” Daiki said, “Why don't we just have them wait outside and we bring Kei out to meet them?” Keito lit up, “That will actually work..”

“Alright! So let's go party!” Yuki smiled excited.

~World Cuisines~

“Wow...” Shirika smiled as she entered World Cuisines. Pretty autumn decorations hung from the ceilings. A pretty marble fountain sat at the end of the room. And the tables were all nicely place around a dance floor. There were already some people there, mingling and eating as music played. She then heard, “Like it?” She smiled, “Yuri, you've out done yourself! This place is amazing! It looks way more fancy now!”

“Haha, I'm glad you're enjoying it.” he laughed. “Hungry? Yui made a lot for the guest.” They went over to the table filled with scrumptious looking food as she giggled, “Aww, and they're all decorated so cutely. I'm definitely gonna be eating the cakes~! Her cakes are so delicious!”

“I agree. She's the best pastry chef I've ever had.” he stated as he heard someone call, “Yuri, may I have a moment?”

“I'll be back. Go ahead and enjoy yourself.” he said as he left Shirika. She looked around when she spotted someone familiar. She went over to the girl with long dark blonde hair and smiled, “Hey, you're Hakufu right? You work with Kaori at the animal shelter?”

“Yea...” she said.

“I'm Shirika. I work with Kaori at BLING studios.” she smiled. “I was just wondering... have you seen Kaori? She hasn't been at work for the last two days and hasn't answered my calls.”

“Sorry, I've been.... sick lately.” she stated. “I haven't been to the animal shelter for a while.” Shirika answered, “Oh, well it's good you're feeling better. So did she invite you here?”

“Kei did. He saw me the other day and hoped a party would make me feel better.” she explained. Shirika answered, “Oh, cool. So how are you liking it?”
“It's okay... I just got here like 10 minutes ago, so not much has happened.” she said as they heard, “Shirika!” She looked towards the entrance where Rini was waving to her. She waved back and said, “I'll catch you later, Hakufu. See ya.”

“Rini, hey.” she said standing next to the bouncer, who was checking for invites.

“Hey, can I ask you for a favor?” she smiled. She nodded, “What do you need?” Rini turned to her friends, “I have two more friend. Do you think your friend can let them in?” She nodded, “Hang on. Yuri!”

“What's up?” he said as he came over.

“Can we have two more come in?” she wondered as he nodded, “Yea, no problem. The more the merrier.” He turned to the bouncer, “Let them in. They're fine.” He nodded as Rini, Ryutaro, Kota, Satomi, and Mai came in.
“Wow, this is awesome!” Kota smiled at the place.

“Yum~! Food! I'm starving!” Satomi smiled as she looked at the buffet table. “Come on, Mai. Let's get some food!” Kota and Ryutaro headed to the dance floor as Shirika called, “Hey, Rini. Have you seen your sister by any chance?”

“Um, not lately actually.” she thought. “Huh? Now that I think about it. I haven't seen her for the last few days... I've been spending the night at my friends how studying for midterms... maybe she spent the night working at the studio?”

“She hasn't been there for the past two days...” She answered worried. Rini bit her lip, “Well, Kei will definitely know. You should ask him when he gets here.” Shirika nodded, “Alright. Hopefully he gets here soon. Where could she be?” Rini shrugged, “I dunno. But my sister's a strong girl. She can take care of herself. She should be fine.”

“Yea...” she sighed as Rini ran off towards Kota and Ryuu on the dance floor.

~Outside World Cuisines~

“Man, an exclusive party and we weren't invited...” Ryosuke groaned as he and Rena saw the party going on in World Cuisines. They both peeked inside as saw a male bouncer standing at the door, making sure no one sneaks in. Ryosuke sighed, “How are we gonna--”

“Forgetting about me aren't you?” Rena gave her brother a look. She walked over to the bouncer as Ryosuke followed. She stood in front of him as she looked into her purse. She gasped, “Oh no! I think I forgot my invitation at home...” She looked at the bouncer, giving him a flirtatious smile, “You wouldn't mind just letting us in would you? We won't be trouble... promise.”

“Sure... come on in.” he said letting them in. Rena smirked, “Piece of cake.”
“I have no idea how you do that, but it's so freaking amazing!” Ryosuke cheered as they entered the party.

“Ugh, what are you doing here?” they heard. Ryosuke groaned, “They actually let you in? I don't get why someone would invite a loser like you to a party as awesome as this.”

“I happened to be one who makes all of Yuri's advertisements.” Chiharu told him. “All the graphics in this place are made by me. Including the invitations.” He scoffed, “Oh, yea. You sure are special. So you can make pretty poster, what's the big deal?”

“Urgh... as if being a life guard is that great.”

“Hey, I get paid just to sit there and make sure no one drowns. It's an easy job.” he smiled. Rena rolled her eyes, “Ryosuke, just drop it before you start trouble. If you get thrown outta here, don't expect me to get you back in.”
“Fine.” he sighed, walking away.

“Sorry about him...” Rena sighed. “He can't think straight because of his oversized ego.” Chiharu snickered a bit, “Haha, it always has. Even when we were kids...”

“You sure haven't changed, Chiharu.” she stated as she nodded in response, “But you definitely have, Rena.” She sighed, “Yea... I know. Times have changed...” There was a silence as Rena said, “Well, I'm gonna mingle... see you around.”

~Outside World Cuisines~

“Finally...” Yuto said as he waited by his car in front of World Cuisines. Yuki, Keito, and Daiki had arrived. “Took you long enough.” Yuki smiled, “Sorry... it took a while to get the work-a-holic to come out for some fun. Here's your ticket.” She handed it to him as he said, “let's go. We're already an hour late.”

“Hope we haven't missed much...” Daiki stated. They should the bouncer their invitation as when they got in, they saw lots of people. Some were chatting while they ate at the tables and others were dancing on the dance floor.

“Whoa... this. Is. AWESOME!” Daiki cheered as he headed straight for the dance floor. Yuki looked around as she spotted Rini, “Hey! Rini!”

“Oh, Yuki. What's up?”

“Is your sister here yet?” she smiled.

“Nope. Not yet. Hopefully she'll get here soon.” she stated. Yuki thought and then asked, “What about Kei?”

“I don't think so. I haven't seen him yet.” she answered as someone called, “Hey, Rini. Ryutaro's been looking--”

“Kota?!” Yuki said surprised. “You're here?!”

“Haha, Yuki. What a surprise.” he smiled. “Yea, I'm a friend of Rini's. I didn't know you were too.” She answered, “I'm a friend of her sister, Kaori.”

“You two know each other?” Rini wondered as Kota answered, “Yea, we met the other day. I'm helping her and her friends out with something.” She smiled, “You're always a helping hand, Kota...I'll let you two chat. I'm gonna find Ryuu.” He nodded, “Oh that's cool. So is Daiki and Keito with you too?”

“Yea, and Yuto. Good thing you're here. Kei's probably coming too.”

“Whoa.. you mean Inoo Kei?” he said. “Haha, I know him. He brings my brother and Rini to school. So he has Artemis' power?” She nodded, “Yea... wow. Small world huh? I can't believe you know him.”

“Yea. We just met a while ago so we aren't close or anything.” he shrugged as he soon spotted someone. “Huh... I guess we're all here.” Yuki gave a questioning look as he pointed to the dance floor. Ryosuke was dancing with some girls and Rena was flirting with guys.

“My gosh, everyone is here.” Yuki stated. “I'm gonna let Keito and Daiki know. If you see Kei. Let me know ASAP.” He nodded as she headed off.